A study on the situation of poor children in Macao was conducted by UIC students and teachers from the Social Work and Social Administration programme (SWSA) and the Caritas Macao, and was released on 28 January. Research shows that poor children in Macao mainly come from single-parent families, families with new arrivals, and families with disabled members. The report puts forward suggestions to strengthen assistance to these three types of families.

Director-General of Caritas, Pan Zhiming; Director of SWSA at UIC, Dr Chan Kam Tong; and Project Supervisor of the Centre for Social Management Research and Services (CSMRS) of UIC, Ng Yiu-Fai together introduced the research results at the press conference. They said that single-parent families accounted for 46.6% of cases of families with poor children. Also, families with new arrivals in Macao accounted for 24.6% of the number of cases. Among them, 2.7% of families came to Macao for less than 18 months; and family members with two-way permits accounted for 11.0%.

The research also shows that ordinary children's physical fitness in Macao is still ideal, and nearly 30% of poor children are prone to Internet addiction. It was recommended that the government conduct child health inspections and formulate child health policies; optimise support for single-parent families, families with new arrivals, and families with disabled members, and strengthen marriage counselling.

UIC faculty and students participating in the study included Assistant Professor of SWSA, Dr Charles Leung; Xu Ting from CSMRS, and the 2019 SWSA alumni Chen Kexin and Mai Zheyuan.

From MPRO
Editors: Samuel Burgess, Deen He, Zhang Fan